The canal system around Birmingham provides terrific photographic opportunities. If you have the combination of a nice day and the time to wander along the canal network with your camera then there are few places that can match the views that you can find. Here is an early Monday morning walk along the Canal Network. Thank you to the West Midlands Branch of the Canal and River Trust for their work in maintaining our canal network.
Situated at the University of Birmingham, Winterbourne House is well worth a visit. Here are a few pictures from my recent trip there with the family. Lots of colour in the summer and next time we will remember to take our picnic hamper with us.
I had great fun photographing the Dragon Boat Racing in Brindley Place Birmingham today. Lots to see and do. It was also possible to get close to the action allowing me to get some close up pictures. There were Romans, Star Wars, Egyptians and Disney Characters amongst the crews. There was even a capsize of a couple of boats but I missed that unfortunately as I was checking my pictures. Lesson learnt 🙂 It would also be good to get involved with it as well.
The changing nature of the weather is so fascinating. The colours at dawn and dusk can be amazing. During the day there may be storms, rainbows and even sunny weather that just has to be captured. I regularly post to the BBC Weather Watchers page as it is always fun to get your picture on the Television. The Weather watchers page will tag your photos with “Editors Picks” and then you will know thet the picture has been featured on the television. I was one of the first weather watchers to be selected as a feature of the pages and able to share my experiences of taking pictures of the weather. I also contribute to the Yahoo Weather Project for the mobile phone where your photographs are selected from the Flickr Group.
Dammo’s Weather Watchers Profile
It is always a thrill to have your photographs published in the local paper and this is easier than you think. I discovered that the Birmingham Post and Mail have a Flickr Group and if you post your pictures into this group then you stand a chance of being selected for publication in the paper. Steve was the first journalist who ran the group and soon I found that my pictures were being regularly selected for the paper. The selection process is now run by Marcus who will leave a comment in your flickr page letting you know that your pictures have been selected. All good fun.
The Birmingham Gems calendar features pictures from 4 photographers in Birmingham and it is the idea of both Daniel Sturley (@iconic_exposure) and Jonathon Bostock (@birminghamweare ). The email telling me that i was going to have my pictures selected for the calendar was unexpected. After I had sent in a few examples of my photographs, they selected New Street Station, my view of the Civic buildings in Birmingham and my sunrise of St Paul’s Church. The latter one was my first picture that was selected for BBC West midlands today. I was also in good company with Tim Crornbill, Simon Felton and Ellie all photographers whose work I do admire.
There were many emails discussing the project followed by a celebration evening at Priestly Wharf where some of my family attended. There were poets, musicians and artists present and there were my pictures which I found so exciting.
The Calendar duly arrived and it was a high profile sell across Birmingham. All participants used their numerous contacts to spread the word. The proceeds from the Calendar are for Barbados, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and St Basils. All worthy causes for the proceeds of the calendar sale.
An exciting project and one that I was so pleased to have been invited to be a part of.
Website address:- Birmingham We Are
Charities supported by the calendar
Barnardos Queen Elizabeth Hospital St Basils
